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THE BLACKOUT: CRIME; This Time, Fewer Arrests As the City Stayed Dark

New York City was a crime scene waiting to happen, the imposed darkness offering a nearly perfect opportunity for those inclined to help themselves to whatever their neighborhoods had to offer: computers, jewelry, groceries, cellular phones. No cash, just carry.

But while about 250 people were arrested in what the police described as blackout-related incidents Thursday night and early yesterday, the city never came close to descending into the plunder and destruction that occurred when the lights went out in 1977. During that fiasco, thousands of looters raged through the city and there were so many arrests that some were processed at Yankee Stadium.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, speaking at an evening news conference at City Hall yesterday, said that it had been a quieter day than usual when it came to crime and arrests.

''There has been no spike in criminal activity in the city,'' Mr. Bloomberg said. ''In fact, arrests and reported crime have been less than you would expect for a summer day.''

That did not mean the blackout was without incident. Looking for everything from sneakers to computers, would-be looters -- and a few successful ones -- broke into several stores in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. A few other stores were vandalized, according to the police and neighborhood residents.

About 20 people were arrested late Thursday for trying to steal sneakers from a Foot Locker at 1020 Flatbush Avenue; a 17-year-old suspect apparently fell to his death from a roof, possibly while trying to escape, officials said.

A cellphone store and an appliance rental outlet were targeted in Bedford-Stuyvesant, leading to six arrests. Windows were smashed at a McDonald's on First Avenue in the East Village, and three people were arrested trying to break into a jewelry store at 2125 Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, the police said. In Crown Heights late Thursday night, nine people were arrested for breaking through a rear wall of a grocery store on Ralph Avenue and trying to steal from it, the police said.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said about 850 arrests had been made overnight, compared with about 950 on most nights. That number included the 250 whose crimes the police viewed as prompted by the blackout, he said. Mr. Kelly credited the relative calm in some measure to the department's renewed post-9/11 focus on mobility and flexibility, strategies that led to drills to help officers quickly disperse to trouble spots.

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Mr. Kelly also said a plan developed after the terror attack that allows each borough to operate independently in an emergency gave borough commanders the flexibility to increase their manpower by up to 40 percent. On Thursday night, the Police Department extended the shifts to 12 hours from 8, helping put about 10,000 officers on the streets -- 3,000 more than usual. Mr. Kelly said that officers would continue to focus on potential terror targets.

Overnight, there were about 90,000 calls to 911, triple the normal level, Mr. Kelly said. From 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday alone there were 30,000 calls, he said.

Communication problems hindered the Police and Fire Departments and the Emergency Medical Service, officials said. But the police were able to juggle radio frequencies to handle demand, Mr. Kelly said.

In a few cases, so-called repeaters -- devices around the city that enhance police radio signals -- failed when their backup batteries ran out, and they had to be replaced with automobile batteries, Mr. Kelly said. Mr. Kelly said the department would examine the communications glitches as it reviews its performance in the blackout. He said problems with Verizon brought down the Emergency Medical Service dispatch system three times Thursday night and early yesterday and also caused problems for the department's radio system.

''Verizon clearly has got to look at a couple of things,'' Mr. Bloomberg said at the briefing. He noted that the company's backup power generator was not there or had failed.

While the city's 76 precinct station houses and 20 Transit Police and Housing Police commands are equipped with backup generators, about four worked only intermittently, Mr. Kelly said.

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A version of this article appears in print on August 16, 2003, on Page B00010 of the National edition with the headline: THE BLACKOUT: CRIME; This Time, Fewer Arrests As the City Stayed Dark. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe